New Willy Wonka Pan and Scan ONLY ??????????!!!? (2 Viewers)

[Kyle McKnight]

My pre-order has been canceled. THIS IS BULL SHIT!
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Kyle³
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ICQ# - 49909504

 

[Sarah S]

I'm glad I didn't get around to pre-ordering this title yet. Now I can spend the $$ I was saving for September releases on something else from another studio that does support OAR.

 

[RobertR]

Add my voice to the disappointed. Warner, you've made a BIG mistake on this one. You've lost sales, and you've shown a lack of respect for artistic intent. Shame on you.
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[george kaplan]

This is the future. It sucks. I was going to replace my OAR dvd with this new se OAR dvd, but I sure as hell ain't buying this pan & scan atrocity.
Assuming they don't back out, I think we should start a pool on how many people at the Warner chat tell them how stupid this is. I'll take 100.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Warner Brothers, you lost another sale here. I just cancelled my pre-order at DVD Empire. I will not purchase any pan & scan titles.
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My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 7

 

[Alex-C]

To Whom It May Concern (Warner Home Video):
I was on the fence regarding the purchase of the Willy Wonka special edition DVD. I was leaning towards owning this title as it holds a special place in my memory (I am 30 yrds old), and hearing a commentary from all the grown up children would be something to be cherished. Now that I have learned it will be full frame only, I most definitely will not be purchasing this DVD.
My point in writing this is that you realize that no matter how good the extra features are, the video and audio presentation are of paramount importance to me as the consumer. If I had a choice between a bare bones, but anamorphic widescreen option and a feature laden two disc extravaganza with a full frame presentation, I would most certainly chose the bare bones disc: its that important.
I hope you reconsider your decision.
Sincerely,
Alex Chetley
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http://www.geocities.com/chets808/home_theater_begin.html

 

[Jeff Reis]

Willy Wonka is among my 10-or-so all time favorite films and this *was* one of my must-buy titles. I am not merely disappointed, I am furious with Warner Bros over this ridiculous decision. Hell, this is one of the few discs I wouldn't even be queasy about paying full-list price for. Without widescreen, it isn't worth a dime to me. If Warner thinks those of us who held onto the old disc are going to spring for this disaster just for the extras, they are sadly mistaken. I hate to even do them the good of renting this disc, but I do want the commentary so I suppose I'll have to.
This is far, far more than a mere "children's movie", Warner--not that that even matters anyway, because OAR should be mandatory on everything. And sadly, it WAS mandatory for the majority of WB's discs, even in the earliest days of DVD. Apparently those days are ending as Warner caves to the WalMart nation. I shudder to think what kind of hack job will be done on Looney Tunes (if they ever are even released outside of Japan), in the name of "kid-friendliness". Booooo!

 

[Bill Crosthwait]

Everyone please call (818) 954-600 and politely tell Warner that you will not buy their Pan n Scan version. Hopefully after many phone calls, Senior Mangement will get the message.
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Bill
My DVD Collection
[email protected]

 

[Matt Heebner]

I am very sorry Warner, but I will not, nor shall I ever buy a non-OAR movie from you or anyone else. This movie is one of the most beloved of my family, and unfortunatly will not be among our collection.
Very disappointed and saddened.
Matt Heebner
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[TimSniffin]

If there is anybody from Warner reading this thread, I suggest you pop on over to the Software section and read the relevent thread which has 191 postings as of this writing. Everyone on that thread has already canceled their preorders for this disc, or have simply stated that they are not buying it. I'm one of them.
Here's the thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/...ML/028984.html

 

[Lafe F]

Does anybody at Warner even know that this forum exists?

 

[Ike Graul]

My kids don't buy DVDs. I buy them, and I don't buy anything not presented in original aspect ratio. You lose my money on this and and anything else that is not presented as the Director intended it.

 

[Dan_K]

I was waiting to get this when it hit B&M's expecting Best Buy would sell through at a decent price, but no way now!
When will the big studios learn that family discs do not have to be released in P&S only?
What a joke!
You lost another sale.
[Edited last by Dan_K on August 06, 2001 at 08:22 PM]

 

[Jack_Gardner]

Well, Warner has succefully created a resale frenzy of the OOP widescreen DVD of Willy Wonka. It is already selling for over $40 on ebay.
I'm sure it will hit $100++ over the next month. What a nightmare....(for those of us who never got our hands on the widescreen version, that is.)

 

[Scott Weinberg]

What more can be said? This is simply bad business.
What I find particularly disturbing is that while this title was announced as Widescreen Anamorphic all along, the truth was not discovered until certain DVD sites got their advance copies!
Very sneaky.
I noticed that there has not yet been a mention of the petition in this thread, so here you are. Please add your signature if you find this news to be unacceptable. Thanks.
http://www.petitiononline.com/wonkadvd/petition.html
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Scott
TheAngryJew's Movie Reviews at HBS.com
AOL IM: ScottFromPhilly

 

[Will K]

Here's another canceled pre-order, Warner. Way to go.

 

[Garry I]

Just canceled ny pre-order from DVDEmpire. Hope WARNER gets the message

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Pardon the repost of my snail-mail letter that I sent out tonight, but I'm not sure where the WB flacks will be looking first:
Dear Mr. Lieberfarb and the Rest of The Warner Home Video / DVD Team,
I am writing this letter in protest regarding your decision not to release the Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory DVD in anamorphic widescreen. To release such a prominent title — which appeals not just to families but to adults who are nostalgic for a much-beloved film from their youth — in pan-and-scan only is an insult to the consumer and a blight on your company’s reputation, particularly given that Warner Bros. helped usher in the DVD era four years ago.
I had pre-ordered this title from a leading online retailer and have looked forward to the day of its release since the moment it existed only as a rumor on Internet bulletin boards. Official press releases and even a demonstration of the film’s menu and its documentary by DVD producer J.M. Kenny all indicated that this would be released in both pan-and-scan ("P&S") and anamorphic widescreen ("WS"). All of the information available online regarding pre-orders also explicitly indicated this. But just three weeks prior to its release, we learn — only through advance review copies distributed to the press — that there is no anamorphic WS transfer to be found on this DVD, only a P&S transfer, and a restored one at that. Why bother with restoration if the image is going to be so butchered?
Is it that difficult to appease both the family crowd that may/may not request a P&S transfer and those of us who appreciate the Original Aspect Ratio ("OAR") of the film and don’t care to watch a version of the film which cuts off the sides and leaves the image compromised? You have released such films as Ben Hur and Superman: The Movie on DVD-18 discs and other companies have released separate WS and P&S versions of their titles on DVD to address those who prefer letterboxing (and those who own 16x9 widescreen televisions) and those who do not. Warner Home Video has issued both WS and P&S versions of your most popular VHS titles, so why not do this with this particular DVD?
Unless a widescreen version of this so-called "Special Edition" is issued, you’ve lost my sale (having already sold my previous copy of the older WS edition because of the erroneous information provided by your own press releases), and permanently lost my respect for the work that you do. I am advising my family back in the Midwest, along with other friends and associates here in Los Angeles to boycott this misbegotten release.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Are you people absolutely sure or are you overreacting like the posts months ago that cried Wolf about Artisan not releasing an Unrated version of Requiem of a Dream???
On Amazon, it says, Widescreen. They are wrong?
Edition Details:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
•*Color, Closed-captioned
• Audio Commentary With All The Wonka Kids
• Documentary, "Pure Imagination"
• Sing-Along Songs
• Original Theatrical Featurette
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

 

[ErikG]

Uh, Warner....HOW can you bite the hand that feeds you?
MY Pre-Order.....CANCELLED.....money out of your pockets and into someone elses.